Apparatus for producing carbon black



Dec. 29, 1931. G. c. LEWIS APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CARBON BLACK 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 2 1.925

Dec. 29, 1931. G. c. LEWIS 1,833,316

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CARBON BLACK Filed Jfine 24, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 avwewtoz K W GEORGE CHARLES LEWIS, OF NEW DORP, NE

Patented Dec. 2 9, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- .COMPANY, OF WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE APPARATUS FOR rnonucnve CARBON BLACK Application filed June 24, 1925. Serial No. 39,182.

lieve that such attempts have not met with success.

natural gas burned alone.

The main object of my invention is to increase the yield of carbon black, in' respect to the size of apparatus employed and the amount of gas burned.- I have discovered that loan secure this result by heating the gas and combining with the heated gas a gasifled product of certain compounds of the aromatic series, as distinguished from compounds of the aliphatic or paraflinseries, such as make up the 'mainbody of crude oil, petroleum, etc. The ring compounds of the aromatic series, when broken down and partially burned in a flame of natural gas, impinging on a plate, seem to have some peculiar property of depositing as carbon black, a very large amount of their carbon content, or of causing a larger deposit of the carbon from the methane. The relatively stable methane acts as a carrier for the compounds of-the aromatic series, but at the temperature of the flame appears to also combinewith the less stable vapors and become split up or broken down with the production of as much as three times the carbon black which would result were the methane or I do not wish to be limited to anyspecific compound of the aromatic series, as I may use various low fractions or heavy distillates of tar (coal tar, water gas tar, or wood tar), as

for instance creosote, anthracene, naphthalene, dead oil free from lighter fractions, etc.

' One important feature of the invention,

and whereby I secure highly satisfactory re sults, is'the use withthe methane orother carrier gas, of heavy distillates of the arcmatic series free from thehigher fractions, as distinguished from crude oil or petroleum, which are composed essentially of compounds of the aliphatic iseries,;and include lighter fractions which tend to make the flame smoky. I combme compounds of the aliphatic series, such as methane, with compounds of the aromatic series, such as dead oil of tar, naph? thalene,'etc., and thereby larger yields ofcarbon are secured. If the flame impinges on plates or channels, this large yield is inthe form of carbon black, whereas if the flame be in a chamber with insufficient supply of oxygen, I secure large yields of lamp black. Y

Although various compounds of the arc matic series may be employed, I'se'curedthe best results by the use-of unsaturated compounds. By the term compounds as used in this specification and the appended claim, I do not wish to be limited to pure substances of definite chemical'composition, but may employ mixtures of compounds, if the main' ingredients be of the character specified. l

Not only is my process economical by reason of the large yield, but also by reason of the low cost of suchmaterials as dead oil,which maybe employed. I preferably vaporize or gasify this oil or other compound employed so as to use substantially the entire amount, as distinguished from merely vaporizing lighter fractions from heavier ones, as results'from bubbling a gas through crude oil. i

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation r of an apparatus embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section showing somewhat diagrammatically a commercial ap1- paratus.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line j3-3 of Fig. 2,

distributing plate are the several burners 12 any relatively a side elevation on the'line j5 5 W YORK, ASSIGNOR TO .COLUMIBIAN CARBON 1 so positioned that the flame plays on the de- I positing plate. The burners are supplied,

It willbe understood from a suitable pipe 13.

that in practice the depositing plate is ordinarily so mounted that it may be moved back and forth, and there is used in connection with it suitable means for removing the deposit of carbon black.

In carrying out my invention I mount within the chamber a pair of conduits 1e and 15 so designed, constructed and mounted that they serve as preheaters for the fluid flowing therethrough, and preferably the heat employed for maintaining the desired high temperature is obtained from the burners 12. These conduits or preheaters are positioned within the chamber and properly juxtaposed to the burners or depositing plates. One of these conduits for instance the conduit 14-, is supplied with the carrier gas under pressure, from any suitable source, not shown. The carrier gas is preferably natural gas, which is chiefly methane. The conduit 15 is supplied with the liquid which is to be vaporized and carried to the burners by the carrier This conduit may be supplied from a reservoir 16 which may be located outside of the building in case the liquid is of such a nature that it does not solidify or become too viscous at temperatures which may exist outside the building, or the conduit may be supplied from a reservoir 17 located in the building so as to be maintained at a temperature which will insure free flow of the liquid. I may if desired provide both reservoirs, and use the inside one during the wintertime and the outside one during the summer time.

The two conduits or preheat-ere 14 and 15 deliver to a saturator 18. This is shown as mounted within'the building so as to be maintained in a heated condition, and the two preheaters 14 and 15' are shown as meeting in a Y 19 and delivering to a point adjacent the bottom of the saturator 18 so that the will bubble upthrough liquid in the saturator and the methane or other carrier gas will become saturated with the vapor of the liquid.

" The burner pipe 13 leads from the upper portion of the saturator.

The preheater 15 is supplied with the dead oil or other compound of the aromatic series, and preferably including, or mainly comprising unsaturated compounds. If a compound is employed which is solid at ordinary temperatures, the reservoir must be maintained in a heated condition, and the heat of the building at the reservoir 17 may be sufficient to keep such compounds as anthracene or naphthalene in a liquefied condition to facilitate free flow thereof. The rate of flow of the liquid or the size of the preheater 15 may be such that liquid enters the saturator only at substantially the same rate as it is evaporated therefrom. The liquid may be partially or wholly vaporized in the preheater 15- so that thevapor joins with the gas at the Y 19 and the saturator 18 serves only to collect such small quantities of liquid as may condense, and to act as a pressure chamber to equalize the flow. The temperature in the vicinity of the preheaters may be in the neighbourhood of 700 F., in which case the liquid preheater will serve as a vaporizer.

It will be noted that both the liquid and the gas are preheated before being mixed, that the mixture is prevented from cooling to any very considerable extent, and that the heated mixture is delivered to the burners. I have discoveredthat by this arrangement and by the use of compounds hereinbefore specified, a very great increase in the yield of the carbon black may be obtained. It will be obvious that if lamp black is desired, the depositing plates may be omitted and the controlling of the air to the building or chamber so regulated as to cause the desired incomplete combustion. The gaseous products of combustion containing the lamp black may be conducted to separators for the depositing and collection of the lamp back.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 2 to inclusive, the building a has a row of channels or depositing plates 11a, and above these is arranged the coil 14a serving as a preheater'for the gas. The preheater for the liquid is shown as a coil a located alongside of and below the channels 11a. The preheater 15a may be along the center line of the building with separate channels 11a and preheaters 14a upon opposite sides thereof. The preheated gas is delivered through a conduit 20 to a saturator 18a, and

the preheated liquid may be delivered thereto through a conduit 21. The saturated mixture of gas and vapor may be withdrawn through a pipe 22 and delivered to the burners. The saturator may be constructed as shown in Fig. 4 with a seriesof baffles so arranged that the gas passes over one and beneath thenext to insure proper contact of the liquid and gas, and the proper vaporizing action and mixture. The saturator may be provided with a draw off pipe 23 for any heavy liquid which is not vaporized. The uniform distribution of the saturated gas to the several burners may be by means of manifolds 24, as shown in Fig. 5 and these may have a return pipe 25 whereby any liquid condensing out in the manifold may be returned to the saturator. The saturator may be placed in the building with the burners and preheaters, but is preferably in a separate enclosure so constructed as to facilitate heating the saturator, or at least conserving the heat of the liquid and gas delivered thereto.

It is not essential that the liquid be preheated in the coil 15a, as it might be heated from an outside source of heat and delivered directly to the saturator. The heat of the carrier gas may be relied upon as the sole means for heating the liquid. For instance the carrier gas may be delivered from the coil 14a at about 400 F. to 500F., and give up a part of its heat to the liquid. The saturated gas may then leave the saturator at about 212 F. to 260 F.

The apparatus is shown as having a bank of four saturators 18a arranged in two superposed pairs connected in parallel, but this is not essential. I have also shown a pipe 26 by means of which unsaturated gas or gas saturated at some other point maybe delivered to the burners. It will be apparent that by the use of suitable manifolds one set of preheaters and saturators may supply not only the burners from which the heat is obtained for the preheaters,. but also other burners in other sections of the building, or in other buildings. In practice, in the form shown in Fig. 1, a large number of the burner pipes 13 would lead from a single saturator 18.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is I a An apparatus for producing carbonaceous products such as carbon black, which includes 5 a chamber, a member disposed therein and presenting a depositing surface, a pair of conduits extending lengthwise of said member within said chamber and juxtaposed to said member to constitute preheaters, means for delivering a carrier gas to one of said preheaters, means for delivering a liquid hydro carbon to the other of said preheaters, a saturator connected to both of said preheaters for receiving the products therefrom, a

a burner beneath said surface for producing a flame impinging on said surface and means for delivering to said burner gaseous products and vapor from said saturator; Signed at New York, in the county of New 40 York and State of New York, this 11th day of June, A. D. 1925.

GEORGE CHARLES LEWIS. 

